As we open this text, we are presented with a very sobering and really horrific event. We must not too quickly pass by what is here recorded, that the King of Israel, the one that God anointed to save his people from their enemies, now turns and strikes the priests of God with the sword, doesn't just kill one that he regards as a wrongdoer and justly deserving punishment, but he kills every priest that he can get his hands upon. Having done that, he doesn't limit himself there, but he continues to sack their city and to kill every woman, every man, every child, every infant, even their cattle and their sheep, he slaughters. This is a moment where in many ways we realize that though we might appreciate how Saul gets to where he gets, Saul is a reprehensible and evil man. Saul is a man consumed with something that leaves him with no limits upon what he will do and who we will destroy. As we look at this narrative, the thing I will pick up on to help us understand it is that the author, once again, is drawing contrasts. The author, Samuel, just loves to draw a contrast to help us understand. Sometimes it's between Jonathan and Saul. Sometimes it's between Samuel and Saul. Sometimes it was between Samuel and Eli. But throughout, we tend to get these contrasts where the author says, here is one man, who is in the wrong, and here is one man who is in the right. And as he draws these contrasts, he helps us to more deeply understand both men, to think more thoroughly about who they are and what's going on with them. You'll remember last week, as we addressed David, that I argued that David was going through something of an identity crisis. He was forgetting who he was. That is still here at play, between, the same theme comes into play between Saul and David, although this time it is Saul who is in the identity crisis, if you will, and David who keeps his right head. But rather than think specifically about identity, the idea I think I see played out the most is really this idea of perspective. One man is seeing the world the way the world is. And one man is living in a fantasy. He has built a world around certain ideas that prove to be false, but certain ideas that then shape how he views everything. I'm going to argue that the fundamental issue with Saul and why his reign becomes here so ineffective, and why he now turns on his own people and upon God's priests to destroy them, is indeed that Saul is living in a world that doesn't exist. He is living in an imaginary world that he has committed himself to for specific reasons, which we'll get into. Whereas as we look at David, David for his wrongs and his errors stays planted in a world that actually exists. And this informs us as to why David continues to grow in prominence, to grow in leadership, to draw Israel to himself and ultimately succeed in his reign, where Saul will fail in his reign. So let's first consider Saul. Like I said before, I think he's living in an imaginary world. And the author actually helps us see this. For we see in verse 6, Saul was sitting at Gebeah under the tamarisk tree, on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. This is a picture of Saul in his court. And Saul is in his court, in the seat of his power. I know he doesn't have a palace, but this tamarisk tree, this is where they would gather to hear the king judge and to make decisions, to interact with their king. And so this location is a symbol of Saul's power and authority as king. And then we notice that he is sitting and all the servants are standing, right? This is a picture of the king who is definitely in charge and his servants are standing there ready to hear him speak and ready to carry out his word. It's very much the same image as if I am going in to speak with my commanding officer. Well, he will very often be sometimes sitting at his desk, and we're reservists, so we're not as formal as those active duty guys, so he's not gonna expect me to come in and salute him, but he's still gonna expect that I'm gonna walk in, address him politely, and I'm going to stand unless he tells me to sit. Why? Because by my posture, I'm acknowledging you're in charge, you're gonna tell me what to do, and I'm gonna carry that out. That's the same idea with the men standing here. They're standing, witnessing by their standing that Saul is the king. We also have the symbol of the king's mighty warrior power. Here he is sitting and his spear is in his hand. Saul just didn't like to fight with a sword, I guess. He's always got that spear in his hand. And it reminds us again and again, Saul is not one to cross lightly. Saul is a mighty warrior. He is used to combat in the field. Yes, David killed his 10,000, but let's not forget that David killed his And again, all his servants gathered to him. The setting that the author Samuel wants in your head is here is Saul in his regal glory, in an expression of his great power. And he does that because he wants what Saul says to rather grate on you, to not seem quite right. For what does Saul say? Here's Saul and his regal power. And then he says to his servants, hear now, people of Benjamin, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards. Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? That all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait at this day. There's several things that seem very strange here. The first thing I would note is as he addresses his court, he does not address them as his loyal servants. He looks to say, all of you have turned against me. You're in some mighty conspiracy against me. You intend to bring my kingdom down. And what does he harp on? You have conspired against me because none of you told me that Jonathan, my son, has made a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you have told me that my son has stirred up David, my servant, to lie in wait for me at this day. I hope you see here the first thing he's got totally wrong. He is dealing with Jonathan and David as if they are disloyal, as if these two men are planning to lead a palace coup and install David on the throne instead of Saul. Now, David, having been anointed by God, might well have said, well, that gives me mandate to do exactly that. And if you read in the book of Kings, you will read of other men in the northern kingdom who will be anointed by God and do exactly that, go and kill the king and his sons and take over for themselves. I think of Jehu, for example. But has David done that? What has David done other than faithfully serve Saul's commands? I can't think of anything. David has been Saul's mighty warrior. David has been patient with Saul's attacks upon him, with his faithlessness with regard to his daughters, and a variety of other things. David has consistently looked out for what is in Saul's interest. And then we think of Jonathan. And Jonathan, I think, really stands out as the man who is astoundingly faithful to his father and serves him well. He serves him well on the battlefield. He serves him well in seeking to promote and bring up men who can serve his father faithfully. But especially remember that there is one man in Saul's court who keeps telling Saul the truth. And who is it? It is Jonathan, who even when his father disclaims him and humiliates him, continues to tell his father, It is not David who is in the wrong, my father, but it is you who are in the wrong. And so, again, Jonathan has done nothing here to deserve this accusation of unfaithfulness. And so on the one hand, Saul has built this world where he's convinced himself that his most loyal servants, the ones who've done the best and the most work, even his own son and heir, are actually conspiring to steal his throne away. And of course, if you know the rest of the story of Samuel, and most of you do, you know that these slanders that Saul proclaims against David and Jonathan are totally untrue. That even when these men have opportunity to steal the throne, they do not. That as we'll see in the next chapter, when David has a chance to serve and protect Israel, still as if he's Saul's servant, he chooses to do so at his own risk. But there's a second really grating and strange thing here. It's there in verse eight. None of you is sorry for me that my son has stirred up my servant against me. None of you is sorry for me. And that just, that doesn't line up. Here you have Saul in the trappings of his power with men at his back and call. complaining that they don't feel sorry that he's got problems within his household, complaining that they don't feel pity for him, that Jonathan is working against him. And we've already addressed that that initial claim is false. But it's the second thing of how are you the king asking your servants to feel sorry for you? Why are you trying to stir them to action by making them feel pity for you and really with this manipulation? Who's going to give you fields and vineyards? Oh, you want to serve me. You want to follow me because I'm going to give you the land and the command. And at the same time, you should pity me and do what I ask for. And I think as we think about this, we begin to see what's wrong with Saul's perspective. You see, Saul is working in a world where Saul is the measure, where Saul is first the measure of right and wrong. The loyalty of his servants and of David and of Jonathan are measured against what Saul thinks is in Saul's best interest. He is, as you might say, in a subjective morality. That is, what is right is what Saul says is right, instead of an objective reality. That is, a reality where God's law tells us what is right and what is wrong. And so he measures and says, I didn't want David anointed, so therefore anyone who would work with David or protect David or help David in any way must want my head on a platter, must want my destruction. But then second, he sees and measures the world and it's this call for pity that seems so strange. And what this really gets at is Saul is looking and saying, The one person in this building who didn't do anything wrong, the one person who is absolutely righteous and has been only wronged against, is Saul. The one person who has nothing that he could have done better, nothing for which he could repent, is Saul. And as Saul takes on that perspective, we are watching a great tragedy happen for Saul personally. Because as we've read through the book of Samuel, we know as the outside reader, and I think many of Saul's contemporaries understood, Saul is in this pickle. Saul is in this situation exactly because of Saul's decisions. That it was first Saul who was disloyal to the Lord. It was Saul who chose to break the Lord's commands, not once or twice, but on repeated occasions at many opportunities. And now as we see David, we must remember, where did the conflict between Saul and David begin? It began with the song. Saul is killed as thousands and David is killed as 10,000. It's a song of rejoicing and jubilance at the victory of Israel. And Saul heard those words and from that moment on, he sought to kill David. That this conflict with David could be over as soon as Saul no longer wishes to pursue and destroy David. As we will see in later chapters, David has no intent to harm Saul. That on two occasions, he will have Saul in his own hands. At one occasion, he is rent to the heart when all he does is cut a sliver off the king's robe. Now, Saul is blind to the reality that it is his sin, it is his errors, it is his decisions that have led to this point. And yet, even at this late hour, if he would change his course, if he would repent to the Lord, if he would restore with David and with Jonathan and with his court, this situation could in many ways be saved and be helped and improved. and he could be restored to a position of significant authority and leadership and help and protection to God's people. But he is unwilling to consider it. Notice then how this perspective leads to terrible things. So Doeg tells Saul that David passed through Nob and that he received aid from Ahimelech. I would note here that Doeg says things happen that didn't actually happen. When we read that Saul seeks bread from Ahimelech, the one thing we hear that David didn't ask for was for Ahimelech to inquire of the Lord. But here, Doeg comes and he says, I saw Ahimelech do three things, inquire of the Lord, give him provisions, and give him the sword of Goliath. And I think Doeg is intentionally expanding this. I think what Doeg says is untrue, and is a slander against Ahimelech, in particular to ensure that Ahimelech is in deep trouble with Saul. You will notice that Saul asks him specifically about inquiring of God when he brings Ahimelech before him, that he is very interested in this case, and Doeg is looking for Ahimelech to fall. And so when Saul brings the Himalaya in, we understand that Saul has already judged this case. Saul is on the report of a single man, not even an Israelite, in fact an Edomite, which is of note because we know that there is significant warfare and tension and conflict between Israel and Edom, that the Edomites do not worship the Lord, the Edomites worship their own gods, that the Edomites do not have respect for the priesthood and for God's people. Saul takes none of this into account, but simply assumes that Doeg's account is true. So that when Ahimelech defends himself, let not the king impute anything to a servant or to all the house of my father. If your servant has known nothing all of this much or little, He reminds Saul, David is your king's son-in-law. He's captain of your bodyguard. He is noted as being the most faithful servant in your court. And Saul wants to hear nothing of it. And Himelech has given a valid defense, a good defense, that he had every reason to support David because everyone knows that David is a faithful servant of Saul. But on the report of this one man, Doeg, Saul is ready to kill Himelech. Indeed, as he says to Ahimelech, not just you, but all your father's house. And so on the one hand, so then we see that Saul's loss of perspective here is judging everything through Saul himself makes him very easy to, well, fool, to manipulate, to move into prejudice. Prejudice isn't pre-judgment. He has pre-judged the situation. Doeg told him what he wanted to hear, and now he's ready to judge and act, and act extremely on the basis of that one witness that he wanted to hear. And also that Saul has come to a point where he knows no limits. Let's assume that what Doeg said of Ahimelech was true. that Ahimelech was in cahoots with David and was seeking to bring about the fall of Saul's court. I would argue then what Ahimelech does here in actually coming to Saul makes no sense. But regardless, if Ahimelech is guilty, how is his infants guilty? If Ahimelech is guilty, how are the other priests guilty? The real witness to the wrongness of this, though, is you notice that the king turns to his guard and says, you kill the priests of the Lord because they're with David. Do you notice that not a single Israelite stands up and says, God of Saul, do this. Each one of them see this. They respect the priesthood. They see, I think, that Saul's judgment is totally out of line with the facts and they want nothing to do with it. They refuse the order of the king. And it is only Doag who is willing to stand up and to execute this great slaughter. Saul is blind to what is obvious to all of his servants, the converted and the unconverted alike. There's no one in Saul's court who is willing to join Saul in this because it is obvious to them that this is a grave, evil and a stark injustice. And so we see that Saul has really lost his grip on reality. He is not dealing with the world as it actually is. He's dealing in a world of imagination. Now, let's turn and consider David. So Abiathar escapes and he comes to David. And it fascinates me how David responds to this. Verse 22. I knew on the day, on that day when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul, I have occasioned, I have brought about the death of all the persons of your father's house." This is a moment where David could have easily heaped upon Saul. Look at the terrible things he has done. Look at how wrong he is. Look how terrible a king he is. Would you rather have me as king? Look, I didn't kill a priest, right? He doesn't ignore the fact that it was Saul's hand who does this. But when it comes to time to lay blame, where does David lay blame? David lays blame on David. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. And it's true. David isn't just trying something to be sorry for because he lied to Abiathar and didn't disclose to Abiathar that David was fleeing from Saul. I'm sorry, Ahimelech. There we go. Ahimelech had no way of knowing that Saul was going to come looking for him. Ahimelech had no opportunity to say, no, David, I don't want anything to do with this conflict. I'm with Saul. He's the king. You've got to keep going. Regardless, Ahimelech never had an opportunity to say, I'm in or I'm out to protect himself, protect his family. David had a chance to protect his family. His family's in Moab, saved from Saul. David didn't give that same opportunity to Ahimelech's household. David sees that his lie was necessary for this occasion to happen. And he tells Ahimelech's son, Abiathar, I brought this about. And then he continues and says, and I will do what I can to heal this. Stay with me. Don't be afraid. You're now personally under my protection. The one seeking your life seeks my life. I will be your guarantee. I will be your safekeeping. And I find that interesting because Saul, who's got all the power in this situation, is standing passively. Oh, woe is me. What can I do about this? And David, who has very little power and very little influence and very little authority, is being active. He is extending his protection over someone else, taking responsibility for their safety, doing what he can to heal the wrong that has been done to them. And so David is living in a world where he can grapple with what actually is his own wrongdoing, his own capability to help others, his ability to lead. But as we look at this, We sang Psalm 52 this morning because, not because I love tunes that we don't know very well, but because this is a psalm that David wrote in this very context. And it was good for us to hear it and think about it. But I'm going to read it again and make a few comments because I think this psalm, Psalm 52, gets at why David is dealing in reality and Saul is dealing in imagination. Psalm 52, it's inscribed to the choir master, a masculine of David. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, David has come to the house of Ahimelech. Verse 1, why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. Your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. You love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right. You love all words that devour a deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever. He will snatch and tear you from your tent. He will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous shall see and fear and shall laugh at him saying, see the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever because you've done it. I will wait for your name for it is good in the presence of the godly. So David here draws a contrast right between the man who pursues him, the man of evil and himself. And several times he notes this man of evil is living in lies. You worker of deceit, lying more than speaking what is truth. You love all words that devour. Now, this is targeted to some extent at Doeg, the liar who brought about the occasion. But it's also, I think, targeted at Saul, the man who is the willing believer in the lie, who underlies the violence that is done. And so he notes and says, here is this man who has built his life on lies and his life will come tumbling down when the lies run out. God will break you down forever. And I think that's the key there. God will break you down forever. What is motivating Saul to believe lies? What is motivating Saul to live in this fantasy that he's innocent, that he's helpless, that he's the one who's been wronged and there's nothing he can do? It is his alienation from God. It is the fact that God has told him, because you were faithless to me, because you sinned against me in the matter of the sacrifices, I'm going to overthrow your kingdom. I'm going to overthrow your house. You will not rule anymore. And so Saul is dealing with God and he has this breach with God. He knows that he is destined for God's judgment, and he finds that thought unthinkable. So what is the solution in that place? Well, I think as we think about the history of the world, there's three solutions that jump out at me. Saul has picked the third one, I'll give you the other two first. The first solution is to say, as another psalm says, the wicked man says in his heart, there is no God, right? So we mean atheist. I know God is judging wicked people, but if there is no God, I don't got to worry about it. There is a fundamental lie that we believe in our culture. Many are atheists deny and say, God can't possibly exist, nature is all it is. The second one, the lie of the deist. Oh, there is a God, but he doesn't judge. He doesn't interact with the world. I don't have to worry about him because he's up there doing his thing. I'm down here doing my thing. Saul knows both of these are untenable. Saul has seen God work. Saul has interacted with the Lord. Saul has been brought to prophesy for the Lord. So he picks the third way. What is the third way? The third way is to say, yes, God judges the wicked, but I'm righteous. I am convinced I'm righteous, and woe to you should you claim that I am anything but righteous. And I will bring judgment on your head should you claim that I am wicked. This, I think, underlies much of what Saul then does, that he lashes out and he destroys and he responds in violence. When one comes into his presence, he would suggest that he is something other than right before God. And he does this because he knows that if the truth be that there is a God, this God is the judge of the wicked and that he is wicked, that he has no hope in this life, that he is under God's settled punishment and he cannot escape. He is dealing with God purely on the basis of God's law, and he knows he's condemned. But turn and consider David. There's a word that comes at the beginning and the end. It's very important. Verse one, the steadfast love of God endures all the day. Then again, in verse eight, I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. Steadfast love, the Hebrew, you've heard this before. Chesed, it's translated as mercy or loving kindness or covenant love. It's one of these words where you get lots of English translations for it because the word is very expansive and important word. But it does speak of this steadfast, merciful, covenanted, persisting, enduring love God has for his people. It is a love that endures for his people, even when his people commit sin. It is a love for his people that when they have done wrong, God calms and yes, he confronts them, but he also restores them. It is the love he shows the people that says, I am welcome to hear your repentance. I am eager to forgive your sins. I am eager to bring you back that you might be my people and that I might be your God. And so when David interacts with the Lord, he does not interact with the Lord on the basis of justice, but on the basis of the covenant and love of the Lord. And so David is able to look and say, yes, there is a God. Yes, there is a God who judges wrongdoing. And I am a wrongdoer. And I can look and hope at the future and I can interact with the Lord, not because I know myself perfect, but because I know the covenant love of the Lord. This love is, of course, grounded in Christ Jesus. Just for a moment to think about Christ Jesus, I want to draw this contrast because I think it's so striking. I think of Saul sitting there in his strength and in his power, and he looks at everyone who has done him no wrong and says, you all conspired against me. You are all harming me. You're all sitting against me. It's all your fault. But then I turn to Luke chapter 23, and we encounter Jesus Christ going to and on the cross. I'm just going to read a few verses. Luke 23, verse 33, And when they came to the place that is called the skull, there they crucified him. And the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do. In a moment where Jesus has every right to call for their condemnation and destruction, he opens his lips and says, my father, I pray that you would forgive these who are nailing me to this cross. I think this is likely referring to these Romans who are participating in this saying, treat them as innocent. They have no reason to know I'm anything but a criminal. Then in verse 43, well, verse, I'll go back to verse 42, when the criminal who is hanging beside him rebukes the one slandering Jesus. And this criminal says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And what does Jesus say? Does he say, woe is me? No, he says, truly I say to you, today you'll be with me in paradise. What is Jesus doing? Is he weak? Is he powerless? No, he's granting glory to men who are suffering with him. He's not feeling sorry for himself. He's looking out for those that the Father has given him, as we read about in the Gospel of John. And then in verse 46, then Jesus calling out with a loud voice said, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. There's some other words of Christ Jesus in other Gospels given to us, but I think these and Luke are very representative. One of the absence of Jesus coming and saying, look at how pitiable I am. Look at how woeful I am. Look, you should feel sorry for me. Rather, Jesus is on that cross and he is calling for forgiveness on somebody once treated as innocent. He is extending the fruit of his sacrifice to sinners as he is on the cross. And he's interacting with his father. I mean, right, this is the father's wrath upon him. You can easily see, a tremble to say these words, but you can easily see Jesus Christ calling out to the Father. Why are you doing this to me? I don't deserve this. No, Father, I commit my spirit into your hands. I still trust you. You are still my Father, and I commend myself to you knowing you will receive me. And so we look at Christ Jesus and the contrast with Saul is Saul in a position of great strength, who has entered into tremendous weakness. And we see Christ Jesus, who is in a place of incredible humiliation and weakness, who yet is rather exhibiting incredible strength and power and ability to save his own. And if we will escape that lie that Saul is believing, that I am the measure of all things, that the problem is all of you wronging me, which only traps me in my sin and makes me helpless and only brings me into greater condemnation and removes the ability for me to repent and be saved and to serve my neighbor. The only way to escape that lie is to look on Christ Jesus and to join with the thief. Remember me when you come in your kingdom. I am in the wrong. but I trust you, Jesus, to be the foundation of God's covenant love. It is not the blood of a lamb or a goat or an ox or a dove that guarantees God's covenant with me, God's covenant with me. It is the blood of God's precious son that guarantees that covenant so that I know that over and over again I can sin and I can repent and he will receive me. Indeed, that he overlooked so many sins that I've not really repented of and dealt with because he's not dealing even with the quality of my repentance. He's dealing with the quality of Christ's blood. And so I can come back and back and back and he will receive me. I can interact with him knowing I'm a sinner and knowing he'll forgive me. And that does a beautiful thing. You can now interact with the world as it really is. And I had a long application of this. We won't go there, but just put that idea in your mind. Christian, in this godless world, you are the one person who is dealing in reality. That your neighbor who knows not Christ is believing a terrible lie that is destroying his life. And one of the reasons that evangelism is so difficult is that you're not just trying to have someone look at Jesus and believe, you're trying to do that, but you're really trying to help someone throw off one entire conception of reality and take on a new one. to throw off a lie and to embrace the truth. And that's why it can be difficult and take a long time and why we must plead with the Spirit to do the work. But don't forget, in this world full of lies, looking through Christ Jesus at God the Father, you are dealing in reality. Let's pray. Father, We thank you for opening our eyes to Christ Jesus. We thank you for giving Christ Jesus. We thank you for dealing with us on the basis of your mercy and your love and not on our actions. Lord, we confess that we are frequently falling into Saul's perspective. Perspective of self-pity, of self-righteousness, of a vain innocence that we do not possess. And Lord, we know that this sin, even in your own people, can produce terrible consequences, terrible evil. So we pray, Lord, that you would bring us to deal in reality, to daily deal with the fact that we are sinners, and we sin, and we sin, and we sin, and that you're a God who deals with us on the basis of your faithfulness. Make us a repentance people, Lord. Make us a people who are eyes wide open to the reality of our sin and yet able to stand in this world because of the reality of Christ Jesus. Lord, we pray you would make us witnesses of this reality. That you would cause us to proclaim Christ Jesus because we see people who are suffering what Saul suffers around us. and we long to see them free. Give us the courage, we pray, of Jonathan, who was willing to speak the truth to his father, though his father disowned him, because he loved his father, and long to see him find repentance and restoration. Give us that kind of courage, we pray, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.